Old Atco mower project.

Just picked up a 1960’s B23 Atco as a little restoration project.

It’s a good runner and cuts very well but is in need of some TLC.

9 minutes, and you haven’t posted the ‘before’ pics?

Shame on you…

I’ve tried but the stupid f***ing mobile version is impossible to use..😨

Quick! Before I start using google please! 😉

https://photos.app.goo.gl/eU8xir1Kb4CUClYx1

Is mower envy even a thing?

I don’t even like cutting the grass, but I fancy a project like that one…

Nice! I took on a 1930s atco. It was an absolute bastard thing with a Villiers 2 stroke. The cretinous heap would happily kick back off the handle and start itself in reverse, when it did run properly, you had to run after it as it was setup to do about 7mph.

As I couldn’t post on mobile, here’s a couple of pics:

As it runs well, the first job will be to strip as much of the casing as I can to sand-blast and re-paint. I’ll then look to strip the engine to clean/paint then replace the controls/cables to get it up to scratch.

More to follow….slowly probably 😉

Laughing at hot_fiat.  When we first came here our lawns were in a poor state. My dad borrowed a big industrial mower from his work. It had sort of single wheel clutch to help it make a turn at the end of each cut. One wheel would lose drive and the other would whip your ten year old body off the ground to start the next cut. It may have had that clutch on each wheel to turn in either direction.  It also had a moss scarifier which we only tried once. A single pass of the tennis court sized lawn yielded enough moss to fill a skip.

Keep the pics coming OP

That takes me right back to my youth.

My first job was as a lawnmower mechanic.

Those old cast iron engines sound so nice when you get them ticking over really slow with just the occasional ching from the centrifugal clutch.

Those old cast iron engines sound so nice when you get them ticking over really slow

It does sound lovely, like what I imagine England used to sound like on a Sunday morning all those years ago 🙂

So, should I keep it green? Part of me wants to keep it original the other part wants to make it different…

If it were me, I’d definitely keep it as original as possible.

I am a nostalgic old Hector, though…

We seem to be a nation obsessed with putting everything in formaldehyde, from buildings to bits of useless 70s tat (especially mechanical stuff).

Cobblers to that! Steampunk it. Fit an arduodino-based injection system and roots blower then take it racing!

Keep it green, you could probably make a few quid on it. My dad had a couple of Atcos (he was a poper lawn nut) and they cost a fortune, but when he got rid of them they fetched a decent amount too.

Think there’s a good James May Dismantler episode on an old lawnmower on you tube.

Started stripping her down last night 🙂

Have got the basic covers off, air filter, exhaust etc so starting the shot-blasting process:

Luckily I have access to a shot-blaster, polishing kit etc at work so that will help with keeping it cheap as I can do most of the work myself 🙂

Pull-start cover cleaned and given a light polish:

This is very promising – please carry on, stevie!

Needs James May voice-over!

I’ve got ever-increasing numbers of cowslips appearing on my ‘lawn’, plus a lot of moss, gives me a good excuse not to mow it. It’s basically just two small squares either side of a path, I just use shears to trim the longer bits.

A bit more stripping tonight..

Great project…

there is a guy on the forum below who knows the answer to any mower related question.  I think he may have had a business in the past.. I did something similar and had some help..

https://www.oldlawnmowerclub.co.uk/

Why can’t I see any photo’s? All I have is a grey/white no entry symbol. Shame, as I’d love to follow your very cool project OP 😃

Cylinder bead-blasted and 1st coat of paint:

no pics showing here either?,

weird, I can see them. Trying to use google pics…copying the address, pasting in the box etc..

Can anyone else see them?

No, i can’t

Let’s try Imgur:

Start:

Some bead-blasting:

Polished pull-start cover:

More stripping:

Painted cylinder:

I have to say i’m not a fan of excessive resto jobs!  Leave the patina, but make it mechanically A1

Nice! 😃  Imgur works!

Thanks

Yay!  Hooray for imgur!

Loving it, to be honest, I’m impressed and jealous in equal measure….

I’m not going to worry too much about dents and stuff so it will maintain some of it’s battle scars.

Glad you can see the pics now, will continue to use imgur 🙂

You need to clean all the paint of the edge of the cylinder blades then grind the bottom blade flat and adjust it so it’ll cut newspaper as you turn the cylinder by hand.👍🏻

We’ve got a cylinder grinding attachment for the cylindrical grinders here at work so will touch up the cylinder then lap the bottom blade 🙂

Replaced the old blade height adjusters with some new, stainless ones.

Ooh! I acquired an old atco mower too. It’s a bit of a shed (patina, yes definitely patina) and not quite as lovely or collectible as yours, but it’s put some good work in, and the kids love it👍🏼

View post on imgur.com

I am liking that! 😎

Looks like a beast v8 😎

I’ve a old Suffolk Punch to renovate as a project.

I really should get round to starting it.

Looks like a beast v8

It is! It has an (optimistic) 12hp on tap! 😱